1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an agricultural feed bagging machine and more particularly to an agricultural feed bagging machine having an improved auger conveyor associated therewith for conveying feed from a feed wagon or the like upwardly towards the hopper of the bagging machine with the result being that the feed is evenly distributed across the length of the rotor.
2. Background Information
Agricultural feed bagging machines have been employed for several years to bag or pack silage or the like into elongated plastic bags. Two of the earliest bagging machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,687,061 and 4,046,068. In the prior art bagging machines, silage or the like is supplied to the forward or intake end of the bagging machine and is fed to a rotor which conveys the silage into a tunnel on which the bag is positioned so that the bag is filled. As silage is loaded into the bag, the bagging machine moves away from the filled end of the bag in a controlled fashion so as to achieve uniform compaction of the silage material within the bag.
In the prior art machines, the silage material (feedstuffs) is conveyed upwardly from a feed wagon or the like into a hopper which is in communication with a rotor. In the prior art machines, the feedstuffs were conveyed upwardly to the hopper by means of either a belt conveyor or a chain conveyor. Although the prior art belt conveyors and chain conveyors did convey the feed upwardly to the hopper, it was extremely difficult to deliver the feed evenly across the rotor. The belt conveyor normally conveys the feed upwardly and delivers the feed to a series of adjustable paddles, usually two or three, which divert the feed to two to three locations on the rotor. In dry to wet feed or different kinds of feed, the paddles require frequent adjustment. Also, in dry feedlots, airborne particles are created due to the high speed diverting process.
With the use of chain conveyors, attempts of evenly distributing the feed across the rotor was accomplished by two complete chain and slat conveyors attached side by side with one being shorter than the other to enable feed to fall off on two locations of the packing rotor. Another prior art approach was to provide a diverter board on a single chain and slat conveyor to simply shove off the feed partly as it is being conveyed upwardly. The double chain conveyor and the diverting board conveyor, have high chain wear and adjustments are frequently necessary. Perhaps the most critical problem associated with the belt and chain conveyors is the loss of the effect of their diverting methods when the conveyor is filled on one side or the other from the farm wagon. In operation, the bagging machine moves constantly ahead when filling, requiring the farm wagon to be pulled ahead accordingly, thus, almost never filling the conveyor in the center at all times.